Of Starry Eyes and Wild Nights
by anne anonymous
Summary: Sarah's cousins, Audrey and Isabel come to town. The Newsies make new friends and form new relationships. One of them will find themselves in a sticky situation. Rated for future.


Note: I just own the OC's. I've given some characters in the show (such as Mrs. Esther Jacobs' maiden name) first names, so I'll add them here. This takes place a year after the strike. Ages may have been changed. If you don't see a newsie listed, they probably don't play a huge part in this particular piece. This isn't meant to be strictly historically accurate; it's mostly for fun, but I do try to keep things legitimate where I can.

A character list:

The Jacobs Family

Mayer Jacobs: Unemployed, disabled man (46)

Esther Jacobs (born: Esther Novak): His wife (38)

Sarah Jacobs: Their daughter (20)

David "Davey" Jacobs: Their son (17)

Lester "Les" Jacobs: Their son (12)

Sam Jacobs (born: Shalom Jacobs): Store Clerk, brother to Mayer (43)

Margaret Jacobs (born: Margaret Smithe): His wife (40)

Isabel Jacobs: Their daughter (19)

Audrey Jacobs: Their daughter (17)

The Manhattan Newsies

Jack Kelley (born: Francis Sullivan): Leader of the Manhattan Newsies (18)

Racetrack Higgins (born: Vincent Donati): His second in command (18)

Kid Blink (born: Bill Wilkes): Third in command (16)

Boots (born: Walter Jennings): A Manhattan newsie (18)

Skittery (born: John Nelson): A Manhattan newsie (19)

Various other newsies ages 12 - 21

The Brooklyn Newsies

Spot Conlon (Born: Ernest O'Neil) (18)

Various other newsies ages 12 - 21

* * *

Audrey's POV:

Being Jewish in America is very difficult. Although we're in the year 1900, nobody is less prejudice than before. So my father, born Shalom Jacobs, changed his name to Sam to avoid the judgement and became a practicing Christian. He married Margaret Smithe. Her parents knew nothing of her husband's previous religion, and it took five years for Margaret, my mother, to find out he was a convert. They were married, and if she resented him for lying, there was really not much she could do about it. While I wouldn't call them happy, I wouldn't call them sad, either. My mother was raised in poverty, as was my father, but her marriage to such an ambitious man allowed her to become a firmly middle class woman, and to raise her children that way.

A few years ago my uncle lost his job, forcing his children to get jobs. My father, self-interested man he was, ignored this little fact. He explained that he couldn't recognize his brother, even in his plead of help, because he was openly Jewish. Did we know what would happen if we proclaimed relation to him right now? In this protestant country of ours? No, we couldn't do that. Or so he said a year ago. This year I'm packing my bags with my sister, Isabel. We're to help the other Mrs. Jacobs, out aunt, around the house as it's become necessary for her to get a job as a seamstress to help the family out.

Our cousin, Sarah, is getting married to a young man called Jack Kelly. He's two years her junior, and, as my father calls him, "a penniless oaf destined to give her the same life her mother had". While we never openly spoke to the _other _Jacobses - after all there are so many in New York that nobody would guess who is related - we've written letters and become, well, friends with our relatives. Or so Isabel and I have with Sarah. We first heard about Jack last year. He made quite the scene by saying the words "nude" and "love nest" at the table with my aunt and uncle. Although I don't know them well, I can't imagine that made them too comfortable. Sarah thought it was funny, but she was a bit embarrassed.

I know life won't be the same as it is in Connecticut, but I'm excited to get to New York. There are so many opportunities there, and I feel like I could really make something of myself. My sister, Isabel, is mostly excited to wear rouge and lipstick like some ladies in the city do. Mother would never allow that under her roof. Besides, Isabel is a beauty. She's got long tresses of brown hair, milky white skin - the kind the magazines talk about all the time - and her lips are already pretty enough, and pink enough, without any lipstick hindering that. Sometimes I worry about Isabel, and going to the city worries me even more. I'll have to make sure to keep an eye on her: handsome gentlemen, make up, and low self esteem probably don't mix well in the city.

* * *

Jack's POV:

Ever since last year, I've been coming over every night to sit by Sarah and eat her (and her mother's) wonderful cooking. I help the family out as much as I can, after all, I'm marrying their beautiful daughter. I've been saving up for awhile, and I've got the pair of us the perfect place. It's got it's own bedroom and kitchen! Sure, they're probably half the size of what a normal room should be, but it's amazing what you can do while saving up. Of course, once I make this big move I won't be able to be a newsie anymore. I'll hand over the reigns to Racetrack, I think he'll stick around another three years. Can't imagine that boy settling down for anything.

Sarah told me she's got a couple of cousins coming to help out her family. Her mother's got to get a job, which is terrible, since we expected her father would be healed by now. Maybe we all really did know that he wouldn't be. Maybe it was easier to pretend things are better than they are. But at least I have Sarah, and see, she's really the only thing that's ever made me feel alive. Not off in my dream world, where I pretend my dad isn't in jail and my mother isn't dead, but here. I never realized being a dreamer could be such a bad thing. But Sarah, and Davey, and even Les helped me realize the important things in life.

* * *

Audrey's POV:

Living in Manhattan is loud. And crowded. Not just in the tiny apartment with one separate bedroom feels rather sad. Because of our stay, the boys will be sharing a bed, and Isabel and I will be sharing a bed. We stay in the room with Aunt Esther, Uncle Mayer, and Sarah while the boys sleep right off the dining room. I can't help but wonder how difficult it would be to let at least some of them come to our home in Connecticut; it has four bedrooms, and it wouldn't be a problem for Isabel and I to share one. But my father made it clear that he'd rather put his own daughters in discomfort and send them to help his brother, rather than risk his reputation. He does have a point; his friends paid so little attention to us girls that they probably wouldn't recognize us anywhere.

While here I learn that Aunt Esther is opposed to the upcoming union between Mr. Kelly and Sarah. She likes the boy, she says, but she would rather Sarah marry a nice Jewish boy. She seems to have names at the ready, for whenever she wants to have this conversation. Sarah is good natured about it, especially since she has her father on her side. From what I can tell, Uncle Mayer seems to be just as in love with Mr. Kelly as Sarah is. He has nothing but great things to say about the boy, and as he's the head of the household, he has the power to end any arguments about it. For a short time.

Uncle Mayer suggested we get out of the house one Saturday afternoon after Isabel and I had finished doing the chores for the house. With everyone working, Saturday and Sunday afternoons (they worked in the mornings), and late nights were they only time everyone was together, and so naturally grocery shopping and cleaning fell behind. Isabel and I had taken care of that with some struggle, and by this point we were tired of seeing the house and the marketplace, a change seemed like it would be fun. So we went down to where the newsies lived with Sarah, David, and Les. At this point, I didn't know this would change the course of our entire lives.

* * *

Jack's POV:

The boys were excited to meet a couple of new skirts. Being Sarah's relatives, they did not disappoint. The older of the two was a bit flashier, and just one year younger than Sarah herself. She was the kind of girl who put red on her lips and face, like Medda, and had kohl around her eyes. It was hard not to stare at her, but I tried my best. Her name was Isabel, and the boys started to flirt with her right away. Her younger sister, I could tell, was probably used to being in the background. Sure, she was pretty, but not the gorgeous type her sister was. I tried my best to be polite to her, make her feel special, because I knew Sarah never liked anyone to feel left out. And Audrey seemed like she might be more like Sarah than her giggling, flirty sister.

Audrey looked more like Sarah. She was seventeen with curly, thick brown hair with grey eyes that seemed to prefer to look down at the floorboards than meet anyone's eye. I figured that was apart of her problem. Or maybe she just didn't like guys drooling over her the way her sister seemed to. Boots seemed to attract her eye, and I had a feeling her parents wouldn't think much of that. Boots dealt with a lot of nasty people, people who wouldn't buy papers from him because of the color of his skin, people getting mad if he looked at their wives or daughters in "the wrong way". More than once Boots got into a fight he didn't even want to begin with. But this girl looked... intrigued.

"So where's this Spot Conlon I hear about?" Isabel asked in a sweet voice, high pitched and kind of childish. It seemed like she was putting it on, kind of like Medda did for her shows. "I hear he's got quite the reputation around here." She glanced at Boots and giggled, stepping back over to Sarah and Audrey.

"Ah... Spot doesn't come around here too often, maybe once a week. Unless he's got a reason to, of course." Jack raked a hand through his hair. "But he should be here tonight for the big game. If you want to meet him, that is..." All the girls seemed to fall for Spot, the way they used to fall for Jack before it became clear he wasn't into that anymore.

"The big game?" Isabel asked, widening her eyes and biting her lip. That's when I realized she wasn't exactly natural in the way she acted - she was sure funny, though, and not many of the other boys caught on, in fact, it seemed they were all blind to it. Maybe you had to be with someone that you really cared about to notice something like that.

That's where Race came in. "Yeah, sweetheart, ya see, once every Saturday night we get ta'gether and play a little game 'a cards. I can show ya how if you'd like?" He stepped closer to her, but Boots gave him a look. It was unspoken, and it just took a second, but Race gave him a sly smile and walked away, in favor of Isabel's younger sister. "What about you, darlin'?" he asked, and this attention seemed to startle her a bit. She gave him an awkward smile, but before she could answer, Isabel spoke up.

"Oh don't bother with her, my little sister is the shyest thing out there." Isabel said with some affection. "We'll be there." She spoke for the three girls, but nobody argued. It seemed that after a week at her cousin's house, she had a certain authority, even one that Sarah didn't speak up against. I couldn't imagine Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs letting them out past seven for something that wasn't very special, like the rally at Medda's, but I would have to wait and see. For now I pulled Sarah into the corner and we talked, laughed, whispered, and even kissed a bit, before Isabel announced they should go and get ready for the game.


End file.
